The Michigan Wolverines are back from their bye week and are set to host the Penn State Nittany Lions this Saturday. In this week’s Roundtable, Maize n Brew staff members talk about the bye week, some bold predictions for tomorrow’s game and more!
First off, how was your bye week? Did you watch any stress-free college football last week, or did you take the week off?
Von: I was able to catch most of the Indiana-Nebraska game, and then some of UCLA-Oregon and Texas-Oklahoma. I spent most of my bye week with my fiance in Las Vegas — 97 degrees for an entire week in October should be illegal, but football being played in primetime on the West Coast hits different in the best way possible.
Kellen: I did partake in some stress free football. I did nothing but watch college football and put away laundry from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and it was glorious. Shoutout to Oklahoma, UCLA and UNC for pulling off upsets.
Nick: I was able to watch some stress-free football, with the Georgia-Alabama and Texas-Oklahoma games being the ones that caught my eye the most. I also took the chance to watch some postseason baseball with the deciding game of the Guardians-White Sox series being played on Saturday night as well.
Scotty: It was great to have a week off from getting terrorized by Michigan football. Had a nice weekend up north and did catch some great games.
Matt: I planned to take the week off but got sucked in by the incredible slate of college football Saturday evening. Alabama vs. Georgia, Kentucky vs. LSU, Texas vs. Oklahoma, and UCLA vs. Oregon were all incredible games I couldn’t keep my eyes off of.
Grace: My parents are in town, so we spent time with “grandma” and “grandpa” by exploring. We opted to watch Michigan hockey instead of college football this weekend, but I did keep an eye on the scores throughout the day.
Charles: It was a great bye week! I got a chance to spend some extra time with family and went to Chicago as well for Big Ten Basketball Media Days. Can’t believe basketball season is already back!
Coming out of a much-needed bye week, what is the biggest thing Michigan needs to have figured out before facing Penn State this weekend?
Von: The Wolverines need to figure themselves out, and considering I am saying that midway through the season, I’m not confident that’s going to happen. What’s the identity of this offense? And how many more Zack Marshalls are there on this team that aren’t getting their group chats leaked, yet still question the coaching staff and the general direction of the program? There is a clear disconnect, with there being at least one publicly known player — a senior, no less — that hasn’t fully bought in. Michigan’s biggest opponent right now may just be Michigan itself.
Kellen: Michigan is 24-of-59 on third down, a 40.7 clip that ranks 75th in the country among DI schools, just below the average rate. Michigan needs to prolong drives and hold onto the ball if they want win this game.
Nick: I think getting the running game corrected should’ve been the biggest priority over the last two weeks. Penn State’s rushing defense isn’t anything special and has ceded plenty of yards to opponents. If Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter can actually get going downhill between the tackles, I think it should make things much easier for the rest of the offense while also helping keep the defense off the field.
Scotty: Offensive consistency. The defense is legit, and this team could be a real threat with just an okay offense.
Matt: This may be a vague answer, but Michigan has to figure out the offensive scheme. What Jason Beck has been trying clearly isn’t working for both Bryce Underwood and the running game. I hope the coaching staff revamped the offense as much as is feasibly possible over the bye week.
Grace: I think they need to have figured out how to make this offense more productive. You can’t tell me this roster doesn’t have the talent to play more competitive football. On the defense, I’d like to see them get better at some of the basics. Tackling has been a little sloppy.
Charles: I think Michigan’s biggest emphasis has to be on avoiding turnovers (and if you listened to Kyle Whittingham’s press conference, you know he agrees). There are a litany of things the Wolverines must fix, specifically on offense, but committing less turnovers has to be at the top of the list. Michigan would be 4-1 or 5-0 if it wasn’t for a red zone interception against Iowa and a trio of second-half turnovers at Minnesota.
What has been the most disappointing aspect of Michigan’s season so far? Coaching, the on-field execution, the team’s overall lack of identity, or something else?
Von: I talked about the lack of identity above, so I will focus on the coaching. Jason Beck called one hell of a game vs Iowa up until the final drive, and since then, he has been unwilling to adapt. This is disappointing considering he is on the record stating if something isn’t working, they’d scrap it. Well, the perimeter run game needs to be scraped because it has not worked time and time again. Kerry Coombs also needs to be criticized a little bit for letting Andrew Marsh continue to return punts — a change is being made ahead of this week’s game, but the coaches should have been giving other guys those live reps earlier in the season as well. And finally, coach Whittingham, would it kill you to talk to your quarterback during games? Yes, it’s great Koy Detmer Jr. is there to help out, but if a young quarterback is struggling, he needs to be coached up by the head coach, too. He won’t improve much if he isn’t being given proper coaching in real time while mistakes are being made, and those important words of advice mean a little more when it’s coming from the head honcho.
Kellen: I’d say all the penalties. Michigan has had 332 yards wiped away by penalties, a mark that is tied with Cincinnati for 105th in the country. This team is not disciplined and needs to play cleaner football moving forward.
Nick: All of the above? For me, it’s really just been death by a thousand papercuts, with a lot of their issues seeming to be pretty correctable, namely the issues with penalties and play-calling that just doesn’t seem to match the strengths of the personnel. That ultimately falls on coaching due to failing to address the issues properly. When Kyle Whittingham was hired, it was with the idea he could quickly turn things around since he wouldn’t be expected to be with the program for more than five or six years. The program should have more of a sense of urgency that just hasn’t been seen so far.
Scotty: I would say coaching. This staff was brought in because we thought it would result in a well-coached, disciplined football team, and yet it looks worse than Sherrone’s teams.
Matt: If I can’t say all of the above, the answer is on-field execution. When examining the film, the amount of plays where Michigan is one successful block away from a big gain is staggering. On top of that, the quarterback play has been disastrous. The coaching staff certainly isn’t absolved of all blame, but even when good plays are called, the players are struggling mightily to execute them.
Grace: Coaching. For me, it’s tough to watch seasoned coaches come in and try to do things that just aren’t having much success. Even if you put all the blame on Bryce Underwood, that’s still kind of on the coaches for not making tough decisions to put someone else on the field in my opinion.
Charles: All of the above. The coaching has been confusing, the execution has been abysmal, and the lack of an identity has been shocking. Whittingham was known for having consistent and disciplined teams at Utah, and Michigan has been anything but that. Whether it be penalties, turnovers or just a lack of focus, the Wolverines have been as undisciplined as they come. Additionally, the lackluster offense has been beyond disappointing. Jason Beck was expected to bring a high-powered rushing attack to Ann Arbor, and instead, it’s the worst run game Michigan has had in a long time.
I know this topic has been floated around all over the internet, but we haven’t had a shot to really discuss this on the Roundtable. Should Bryce Underwood remain the unquestioned starter against Penn State, or should Michigan give Tommy Carr a real shot?
Von: I’d give Underwood the first half against Penn State; if the score is in the Nittany Lions’ favor at halftime and the offense isn’t playing well, I would not hesitate to make the switch. However, if you do make that move, there’s no going back to Underwood — his Michigan career at that point would effectively be done. The 2026 season, for all intents and purposes, is already over, so if things aren’t going well this weekend, you might as well see what you got out of your true freshman quarterback and start evaluating for 2027 and beyond, which also means evaluating potential portal quarterbacks to target this winter.
Kellen: I think you still roll with Bryce to start this game, but perhaps have Carr ready to go in case things go sideways in the first half. Bryce is incredibly talented and adds a whole new layer to the offense with his legs, but his decision-making has to be better, as defenses are reading his eyes too often when he stares down targets. If Bryce throws multiple picks against Penn State in the first half, maybe you go to Carr.
Nick: I wrote a story about this last week, but the crux of it is I think Bryce Underwood should be the starter the next two weeks for two reasons. It gives Underwood a final chance to prove himself against two good defenses in Penn State and Indiana, and it prevents Michigan from throwing Tommy Carr to the wolves before he’s truly ready. At this point, I think the coaching staff should be planning for Carr to take over as soon as the Rutgers game at the end of the month, but don’t try to rush him since this is looking to be something of a lost season at this point.
Scotty: I think Bryce still needs to be the guy, but if he plays like he did against Minnesota this weekend, it’s probably worth a shot to give Tommy Carr a chance.
Matt: I would give Tommy Carr a shot. Expecting Carr to magically fix all of Michigan’s problems is foolish, but Underwood has proven he’s unable to read a defense and constantly locks onto one receiver pre-snap. With Underwood’s confidence severely rattled, now is the perfect time to at least give Carr a chance.
Grace: Honestly, I don’t have strong opinions on this. I can see the case for giving Carr a chance, but I’m just not sure I believe Underwood is the only issue on the offensive side of the ball. I would be happy to see Carr on the field if it means this offense is scoring touchdowns, though.
Charles: I would give Bryce Underwood the start, but it might be his last opportunity if we see anything that resembles the second half at Minnesota. Underwood has had promising moments, but there are just far too many mistakes to overlook. If he continues to struggle making the right decisions and puts the ball in harms way, give Tommy Carr a shot. Who knows how it will go, but it might be time to find out.
Give us a bold prediction for tomorrow’s game.
Von: The keys are given to Tommy Carr after halftime, but the offense doesn’t play better.
Kellen: Michigan’s first touchdown scored of the game is a defensive one; it’ll be a pick-six from Jyaire Hill in the first quarter.
Nick: I think Michigan will have its highest rushing output of the year, besting the 185 it had against UTEP. Penn State has allowed 165.8 yards per game on the ground this year and I think (hope) Michigan did some work to spark this area of the offense over the bye week.
Scotty: Michigan won’t score a touchdown. The only reason the offense was able to muster one against Minnesota was because of a turnover in plus territory. Knowing what we know now about Minnesota’s defense, this Michigan offense is far worse than I thought.
Matt: Michigan’s defensive line wreaks havoc on the Penn State offensive line, with Tariq Boney and Nate Marshall combining for three sacks.
Grace: Michigan gets points from all three phases of the game.
Charles: I think Michigan’s run game finally has a breakout performance against Penn State’s poor run defense, which ranks second-worst in the Big Ten. I’ll say Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter find the end zone to help Michigan pull off a narrow win.
What’s the final score and why?
Von (2-3): Penn State 24, Michigan 17. I can’t pick this team to win anymore. The Wolverines need to prove to me they can win a game instead of shooting themselves in the foot and losing the way they did the last two games. Penn State isn’t good right now, but neither is Michigan.
Kellen (2-3): With the defense stepping up, the Wolverines win an ugly game, 16-13, giving them a victory in the Mid Bowl that Andy and Jared talk about on Out of the Blue all season long.
Nick (2-3): Even though I think the rushing offense will be better this week, I won’t predict Michigan to win another game until it actually does. Give me Penn State winning a low-scoring affair, 17-13.
Scotty (0-3): Penn State, 20-6. Michigan won’t get anything going on offense, and a couple turnovers will help Penn State create a comfortable cushion.
Matt: (2-1): Michigan 20 Penn State 17. Penn State and Oregon are arguably the only Big Ten teams who could claim to be even more disappointing than Michigan this season. Matt Campbell’s squad has given up 24 or more points in every game during their ongoing three-game losing streak. Michigan’s offense is the worst they’ve seen in a month, but I still expect roughly 20 points out of the Wolverine offense.
Grace (3-2): 21-17, Michigan. I don’t know, I feel like picking Michigan to win is just my thing. I like Michigan’s defense more than Penn State’s, so there’s that.
Charles (2-2): Give me Michigan, 24-18. I don’t think it’s going to be a very pretty game, but I think Michigan finds a way to win at home. What do I know though? I picked the Wolverines to beat Iowa and Minnesota as well.